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Jacksonville adopts parking plan New rules protect residents from tourist, Britt auto woes By MELISSA MARTIN JACKSONVILLE -- The City Council Tuesday approved 4-1 a parking plan that will limit visitor parking, require permits for residents and assess fees from businesses for parking spaces. The plan is the council's response to a growing problem of parking in Jacksonville, particularly during the summer months, when the Britt Festivals draw thousands of visitors, many of whom end up parking in residential areas. When the plan goes into effect, which could be as early as Jan. 1, visitors will no longer be able to park on residential streets near the Britt Gardens from June through September. Violators could receive a $10 parking ticket. Residents who live on Oregon, South Third, Elm, First or Oak streets will have to show a permit in order to park each car -- their own or a guest's -- in front of their homes. The council changed its original plan to tie the permit system to households instead of vehicles. "The permit would be good for any car in front of that address and it's based on the amount of footage a house has," said Paul Wyntergreen, city administrator. Downtown businesses will begin paying an annual fee based on the number of parking spaces their business requires. The City Council is expected to approve three ordinances later this month that must be passed in order for the parking plan to be implemented. The parking plan also calls for the city to purchase land to create new parking areas in Jacksonville, working with the Britt Music Festivals and Jackson County to do so. Both Britt and Jackson County requested that the city add language to the parking plan that the time line for purchasing properties and the dollar amounts are estimates only, Wyntergreen said. Council member Doris Crofoot said she voted against the parking plan Tuesday because she was not convinced that Jackson County and the Britt Festivals were completely supportive of it. "I voted no because I wasn't happy that they pushed it through last night," Crofoot said. "I still would like to have had a meeting with Jackson County, Britt Festivals and the City Council, so that I could hear personally how they feel about this arrangement of paying for property." "I don't think we should be pricing these properties or looking at them or getting people's hopes up of selling it to the city before everyone agreed to it." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA